JOURNAL of the ADELAIDE BOTANIC GARDENS

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© 2014 Board of the Botanic Gardens & State Herbarium (South Australia) Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 27 (2014) 23–24 © 2014 Department of Environment, Water & Natural Resources, Govt of South Australia

New combinations for the Phillip Island wheat grass, Anthosachne kingiana subsp. kingiana (Poaceae) R. Govaerts

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Herbarium Building, Richmond TW9 3AE, United Kingdom E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Phillip Island wheat grass has been known under many different scientific names. The taxon is now mostly placed in the genus Anthosachne Steud., following recent molecular phylogenetic data. Unfortunately no correct name is currently available under that genus which is rectified here. The new combinations Anthosachne kingiana (Endl.) Govaerts and Anthosachne kingiana subsp. multiflora (Banks & Sol. ex Hook.f.) Govaerts are made.

Key words: nomenclature, new name, grass, Poaceae, Anothosachne, Phillip Island, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, Australia.

Introduction At the species level Elymus multiflorus (Banks & Since the early 1990’s I have maintained a database Sol. ex Hook.f.) Á.Löve & Connor is found in coastal on plants recorded as being extinct. The entire database eastern Australia (Connor 1990; de Lange et al. 2005). is not currently online, though the data feed into the So it seems that the only true endemics to Phillip Island World checklist of selected plant families (WCSP are Achyranthes margaretarum, Hibiscus insularis and 2014). Species recorded as being extinct are indicated Streblorrhiza speciosa, of which the last two are still considered to be extinct (Green 1994). with a dagger (†) after the relevant geographical code. When transferring the Phillip Island wheat grass from Discussion the genus Elymus L. to Anthosachne Steud., I noticed a The Phillip Island wheat grass was previously classi nomenclatural problem, which I resolve in this paper. fied within the genus Elymus. Recent morphological and The Phillip Island wheat grass is a rare species listed molecular studies (Barkworth & Jacobs 2011), however, as critically endangered in the Australian legislation have shown this taxon to be part of an Australasian protecting rare and endangered plants and animals under group, distinct from Elymus, and the name Anthosachne the name Elymus multiflorus subsp. kingianus (Endl.) de has been resurrected to accommodate this group (Bark Lange & R.O.Gardner (Department of the Environment worth & Jacobs 2011). 2014). Until recently, it was considered to be endemic to When updating my personal database on plants Phillip Island, off Norfolk Island, and was thought to be recorded as being extinct, I noticed a problem with the extinct together with the two other endemics, Hibiscus newly published combination, Anthosachne multiflora insularis Endl. and Streblorrhiza speciosa Endl., as (Banks & Sol. ex Hook.f.) C.Yen & J.L.Yang subsp. nearly all the vegetation on the islet had been eaten kingiana (Endl.) Barkworth & S.W.L.Jacobs. It seems by goats, pigs and rabbits. When these feral animals that the basionym of the species name, dating from were removed, Phillip Island wheat grass was able to 1853, is later than the basionym of the infraspecific recolonize the area, and was rediscovered on Phillip name, which has priority from 1833, thus making the Island in 1987 (Sykes & Atkinson 1988). The species subspecies superfluous and illegitimate (ICN Art. 52.1; has now also been found on Norfolk Island and Lord McNeill et al. 2012). This error seems to have started Howe Island (Green 1994: 469) and therefore can no when Connor published the name Elymus multiflorus longer be considered as being endemic to Phillip Island. (Banks & Sol. ex Hook.f.) Á.Löve & Connor var. After the removal of feral animals, the near-endemic kingianus (Endl.) Connor (Connor 1990), rather than Abutilon julianae Endl. also reappeared (Green 1994). making the combination under Elymus kingianus, and This species was first described from Norfolk Island, was perpetuated thereafter. This is hereby corrected. but seems to have become extinct there a long time ago Nomenclature and can now only be found on Phillip Island. Another, previously unknown species, Achyranthes margaretarum Anthosachne kingiana (Endl.) Govaerts, comb. nov. de Lange (2001), was discovered recently, adding a third Triticum kingianum Endl., Prodr. Fl. Norfolk. 21 (1833). endemic species to the island. — Festuca kingiana (Endl.) Steud., Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1:

Published online: 29 May 2014 • flora.sa.gov.au/jabg 23 ISSN 0313-4083 (Print) • ISSN 2201-9855 (Online) R. Govaerts J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 27 (2014)

316 (1854). — Agropyron kingianum (Endl.) Petrie ex References Laing, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 47: 18 (1915). Barkworth, M.E. & Jacobs, S.W.L. (2011). The Triticeae — Elymus kingianus (Endl.) Á.Löve, Feddes Repert. 95: (Gramineae) in Australasia. Telopea 13(1–2): 37–56. 469 (1984). — Elymus multiflorus var. kingianus (Endl.) Connor, H.E. (1990). Elymus (Gramineae) on Norfolk Island. Connor, Kew Bull. 45: 680 (1990), nom. superfl. — Kew Bulletin 45: 680. Elymus multiflorus subsp. kingianus (Endl.) de Lange & de Lange, P.J. & Murray, B.G. (2001). A new Achyranthes R.O.Gardner, New Zealand J. Bot. 43: 571 (2005), nom. (Amaranthaceae) from Phillip Island, Norfolk Island superfl. — Anthosachne multiflora subsp. kingiana (Endl.) group, South Pacific Ocean. New Zealand Journal of Barkworth & S.W.L.Jacobs, Telopea 13: 50 (2011), nom. Botany 39: 1–8. superfl. Department of the Environment (2014). Elymus multiflorus Anthosachne kingiana (Endl.) Govaerts subsp. subsp. kingianus. In: Species profile and threats database. (Department of the Environment: Canberra). http://www. kingiana environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies. This is the correct name for the subspecies from pl?taxon_id=82413 [Accessed: 8 Mar. 2014]. Norfolk, Phillip and Lord Howe Islands, commonly Green, P.S. (1994). Flora of Australia, vol. 49: Oceanic islands I. (Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra). known as the Phillip Island wheat grass. McNeill, J., Barrie, F.R., Buck, W.R., Demoulin, V., Greuter, Anthosachne kingiana subsp. multiflora (Banks & W., Hawksworth, D.L., Herendeen, P.S., Knapp, S., Mar hold, K., Prado, J., Prud’homme van Reine, W.F., Smith, Sol. ex Hook.f.) Govaerts, comb. nov. G.F., Wiersema, J.H. & Turland, N. (2012). International Triticum multiflorum Banks & Sol. ex Hook.f., Bot. code of nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Mel Antarct. Voy. II (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) 1: 311 (1853). — Agro bourne Code). (Koeltz Scientific Books: Königstein). pyron multiflorum (Banks & Sol. ex Hook.f.) Kirk ex [Regnum Vegetabile 154]. Hack. in Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl.: 921 (1906). Sykes, W.R. & Atkinson, I.A.E. (1988). Rare and endangered — Agropyron kirkii Zotov, Trans. & Proc. Roy. Soc. plants of Norfolk Island. (Botany Division, Department New Zealand 73: 233 (1943), nom. superfl. — Elymus of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Zealand: multiflorus (Banks & Sol. ex Hook.f.) Á.Löve & Connor, Christchurch). New Zealand J. Bot. 20: 183 (1982). — Anthosachne WCSP (2014). World checklist of selected plant families. multiflora (Banks & Sol. ex Hook.f.) C.Yen & J.L.Yang, (Royal Botanic Gardens: Kew, Richmond). http://apps. Xiao mai zu sheng wu xi tong xue 3: 232 (2006). kew.org/wcsp/ [Accessed: 25 Apr. 2014]. This is the correct name for the subspecies from south-eastern Australia and New Zealand, commonly known as the short-awned wheat grass.